Clockwork Assasin
by LPDracobeatsall
Summary: My version of what the last book should have been. Will's sister has never left home and Tessa has hired an assasin to kill Jem for her so that she and Will can marry without Jem being in the way. Lily the fairy assasin is happy to help but Will is close to discovering the secret the London fairies all share. Original characters with a few of my own.
1. Hired

Disclaimer: These ideas and characters are from the World of Cassandra Claire's Infernal Devices series which I do not own.

Chapter 1

Each step Tessa took weighed her down. She wasn't feeling well today; in fact she hadn't been feeling well since Will told her the truth. Her skirts rustled in the damp breeze that had started after the downpour that morning. It had been a hard enough day with Will sulking around the house avoiding her. As she glanced around the abandoned alley she had just entered though, she new hard was about to get a new definition. Her boots splashed at every step and no matter how hard she tried to fight back the feeling, Tessa kept looking behind her. It was stupid to go out to a neighborhood like this, especially with Mortimer out on the run and searching for her. She passed the first dented wooden door with its police notice nailed to the front and kept her head down, trying not to draw to much attention to herself.

At the second door she stopped. She turned to meet the wooden door with a chunk missing from the bottom right corner as if someone had kicked it in. Though the Fairy queen had been very nice and instructional, Tessa still felt a kick of fright tighten like a rubber band around her insides. She stepped up the lone step and knocked on the door; two times fast and then five slow thumps. A man answered the door; he stood taller than any man she had ever known, and though he blocked out most of the light spilling into the alley Tessa could see the lizard like scales that covered one arm marking him as a fellow warlock.

"I'm here to see Bellican?" Her voice rose at the end, turning her statement into a question. The warlock looked her up and down, his frown a worrisome thing indeed. He stepped back and led her into a surprisingly upscale waiting area in which Tessa could see warlocks and fairies and even a couple vampires spread out on couches. Instead of making her wait she was lead to the other end of the room by the warlock who, after knocking once on a door, ushered her in and closed it behind her.

"You're here to see Bellican?" asked the girl behind the desk in front of her. Tessa glanced around the closet sized room in front of her, searching for the man in question. The girl in front of her sat patiently, watching her every move.

"Yes," said Tessa, "If you would direct me to him?"

"Ha!" The girl gave one, sharp laugh and rose from her chair. Standing, she barely reached the height of Tessa's nose.

"You're looking at _her_." She announced. Tessa looked the girl over from the light brown almost blond curling hair to the dress that looked a little too nice for the job she supposedly held.

"You must be joking! You're a girl! You don't even look a day older than me!" The girl's face drew into a frown and she stepped around the desk.

"You came here to ask for my help. If you don't have the guts to work with me then the door is right behind you."

"I…uh…I meant no offence by it." Tessa stammered. "Truly, I have only just become accustomed to the work women Shadowhunters contribute."

With no reply to her hurried apology, Tessa used the silence to take the seat on the opposite side of the desk than the girl's.

"Good, now, I am Miss Lily Bellican, head of War and Justice for the fairies, and The Queen's insider to the outside, what can I do for you?"

Tessa squirmed in her seat. "The Queen told me you also kill, for a price?"

Lily's eyes burned holes into the blue dress Tessa had bought with Jessamine what seemed like so long ago. Could it only have been a few months?

"I do." She said shortly.

"Good," Tessa said. "I would like to hire you to kill my fiancé, Jem Carastairs."

It was only a few words, but with their end Miss Lily Bellican's face broke into a smile.

Lily stepped out of the carriage and glanced at the church before her.

"Not very nice, is it?" She said out loud to no one in particular. Tessa stepping out behind her gave a grunt of disapproval.

The queen had done well telling the girl of her services. It was hard to find work these days with everyone so content in their lives, not looking for death. Lily hadn't liked Tessa at first glance, she was prissy and not as blood thirsty as her other customers. But Lily loved destroying love, especially when the customer didn't realize the consequences of their request.

Tessa had explained the predicament; a love triangle, the kind where everyone is hurt by the end. Only a fool would believe in safe solution. Lily was a fool once; it had brought her to where she was now. Just like all the fairies in this stupid city.

A woman rushed out of the mansion-like church and stomped to where they were unloading Lily's bags from the dark carriage.

"Tessa? What's going on? Who is this?" She prodded. The lady glanced at Lily a third time and then continued waiting for a decent answer from Tessa.

"She's here for the wedding." She answered, just as they had agreed. "She was the only friend I had back home and she doesn't have enough money to stay at an inn."

The lady towed Tessa by the arm a little down the road where any normal person wouldn't be able to eavesdrop; Lily wasn't a normal person.

"Tessa, you know we don't allow mundanes into the institute!"

"But she's not a mundane! I only just found out myself, she's a fairy."

"Well then the queen should be the one to give her a room to live in."

"Please, she's all I have left." Tessa's voice broke at the end making it the perfect trap.

Lily saw the sigh, and then the slow nod of acceptance.

She turned to the man who was currently unloading her bags and offered him a smile. Always best to stay on the people's good sides to keep her off the suspect list later. If there was enough evidence to create a suspect list that is.

Tessa came scurrying back along with the brunette woman, an overly-excited and, Lily hoped just to her eyes, obviously fake smile blossoming on that long face of hers. The woman approached her, obviously discomfited with an unexpected guest.

"Tessa has explained the situation and we are glad to have you. I'm sorry to say though that we had no prior warning that we would be housing a guest and so a room has not yet been prepared." Lily smiled what she hoped was her warmest smile and nodded deeply.

"It's my fault," She explained. "I had wanted to surprise Tessa after I had already arrived off the boat. She sent me her wedding announcement and though it wasn't technically an invitation I was already going to have to be here for the queen this week so I figured she wouldn't mind." Technically not a lie and an easy excuse, Lily watched her manipulative skills do their work.

"Oh? What has the queen planned for this week?" The brunette lady asked accusingly like she suspected this to be one big colossal lie.

The man who had recently finished unloading the luggage came around to the lady. "It's her annual ball, don't you remember? I've heard you cussing about it for the past week." He supplied as an answer. As she slowly blushed from the neck up I nodded my head again.

"She asks every fairy in the world to come to her kingdom for the night to rekindle their loyalty and to celebrate her. Guessing by your servant's comment I assume you received an invitation? You should be honored, only a select few non-fairies are invited."

After being shocked, embarrassed, and now nothing slight of scorned, the brunette lady made a hasty excuse for an exit. "Have you met James yet? Tessa's fiancé? I'll bet he'd love to meet you, let me just go run up and get him."

She made a slow deliberate march up the stoned walk way to the gray entrance and closed the door firmly behind her. Lily looked at Tessa and then at the man struggling to lift and carry both Tessa and Lily's luggage up the same path. She strode over to him.

"No need to carry mine," She said. "I've got perfectly fine legs, I can do it myself."

The man looked shocked. "But Miss, that is not the kind of job a lady should worry herself with."

Lily smiled. "Do I look worried?" And with that she lifted her three bags and marched easily into the building.


	2. Introductions

Chapter 2

As Lily entered the foyer, a dark, stuffy, simply old room, a man with red hair was emerging from a staircase that seemed to fade into a basement. The fact that he had red hair was not what caught her attention, it was the smoke billowing from below that gusted around him as he open the door that did. He stopped midstride at her appearance before him.

"Who are you?" He asked, confused and yet not showing any worry that a complete stranger was standing in his home. Before she could spread her lie to him though, the brunette lady appeared coming down a second staircase and his attention turned to her. "Charlotte, who is this?"

The woman, Charlotte, gave a smile that could only be described as tolerant to the man and came to stand next to him. "Henry, this is Lily, Tessa's fairy friend from back home. She has surprised us with her presence this morning and she'll be staying here until the wedding is over."

If Henry was surprised to find he would be living with a Downworlder or outraged at the fact that he was never notified of this happening like Charlotte had been, he didn't show it. Instead, this big goofy grin spread across his face and he threw out a hand for Lily to shake. "Perfect! You see I told you Charlotte, weddings always bring people together; new faces and old all in one room together to celebrate a new beginning."

Charlotte seemed to register the now intense amount of smoke escaping from below. "Umm, Henry, darling, what is that smoke coming from?"

Henry turned, faced the cloud, and turned a darker shade than his hair. "That shouldn't be happening." He mumbled softly to himself and then returned to the stairs he had appeared from, dissolving into the smoke until he was no longer visible. Charlotte cursed, soft and sharp, and then followed him down.

There were shouts of "Stay back! The hindypergerator touched the cyndiphlob, it won't stop burning until we pour oil on it!" but Lily had no idea what Henry was talking about and so she stopped listening.

"Hello," came a voice from the top of the stairs. It was male, with a slightly higher undertone to it, making it sound soft and a little child-like as if the man had not grow into his adult voice yet. "You must be Lily, Charlotte told me you were here. I'm Jem, Tessa's fiancé."

Lily followed the voice to the man at the top of the stairs. Her first thought was old, very old. He had grayish white hair and walked with a cane. Every movement screamed slow, careful, as if the next step he made could determine his health for the next year. Then he approached her and she realized that he was young. Why would someone so young look and act so old?

"Yes," she replied. "I'm Lily, it's very nice to meet you." But in her head all she could think was, "Why did Tessa find this old guy attractive enough to marry? What was so appealing?"

He glanced at the bags now lying at her feet. "I was just heading to the dining room for dinner, leave your bags here and join us."

She nodded. "Lead the way."

He gave her a funny look; a look she got a lot in 19th century London. Finally he hobbled his way through a doorway to her right, down a hall, and into a room painted a brilliant ruby red. A great improvement in color compared to the rest of the church.

They were the first to arrive.

Lily pulled out her own chair and slumped into the seat, crushing her dark gray skirts but not caring. And then it…got…awkward.

She stared at Jem. "Soooo…" she began, drawing out the word until it sounded less like "so" and more like "oh".

_Bang!_

A door slammed somewhere in the church and it reverberated around and shook the chandelier above their heads. Then came stomping and an "oh" from a girl.

More stomping and then a boy shoved his way into the room. To say he was handsome wouldn't be accurate, startling was more like it. He had black, almost blue in the candle light, hair that was more wavy than curly. It looked the way hair would look if someone had shaved their head and then let every strand grow to be three inches long on its own. To say the least, it was extremely layered and fell slightly in his eyes. If his hair caught your attention though it was nothing compared to his eyes. They were a deep blue that was almost purple, the color of the bottom of the ocean before your eyes make everything look black. These dark features on a boy with white, slightly tanned, skin and suddenly he was the man version of Snow White. Eerily too contrasting and yet somehow it all worked together.

He gripped the back of a chair and scowled in Lily's direction. Never one to back down in a contest of superiority Lily's eyebrows rose in a silent challenge.

"Get out." He said. Jem scoffed and moved the stand. "Jem sit. I'm just telling our intruder that she's not welcome here and that she needs to go."

A slightly frazzled Charlotte appeared in the doorway, out of breath and smudged in places with soot. "Will, I told you upstairs, Lily is our guest and is to be treated-"

"Lily is a disturbance that cannot be handled with at the moment. We have no time to take in wedding guests! Every second we waste a madman is trying to capture Tessa, or do you not remember the last time we took in someone we didn't know?"

"This is Tessa's friend-"

"And that was Tessa's brother!"

Lily banged her palm down on the table and rose to her feet. "Listen! I am aware that I am a newcomer here and that you may not have very much faith in me. But I am also a fairy and fairies cannot lie. I am not here because anyone after Tessa sent me here. I am here of my own free will to help Tessa with any wedding problems she needs help with and to get to know the man she is engaged to wed. If you have a problem with me shut up and deal with it."

Charlotte's mouth was gaping, Jem's eyebrows were almost to his hairline, but Will stood, mouth tight, and regarded Lily with a new interest.

"Oh my," whispered Charlotte.

Jem's face slowly returned back to normal, and then he smiled. "I often forget how blunt the Americans talk. She really yelled, didn't she Will?"

Will slowly transformed his expression into a bored smugness and then took a seat next to Jem. "Yes she did. In the future Lily, you should remember that manners make friends and yelling at men doesn't do much for appearances. In fact right now I'm having trouble distinguishing you from bald, three-toed Helga who lives down the road."

Before she could retort, Tessa and Henry appeared and dinner commenced with a flourish of foods being brought in by a chubbier woman with a hard, stony face.

Conversation was limited. Tessa was seated on Jem's other side and it seemed as if the two never stopped silently sharing a conversation, not even to eat. Will was quiet but Lily caught a few glances he sent her way. He looked curious and bit confused, as if he was close to solving some strange riddle but half way through realized it was in another language altogether. And then Henry was taking up all of Charlotte's attention, not because she seemed interested but because he kept using the hand in which he held a knife to describe a new invention and his swipes kept coming closer to her face. It didn't matter though; Lily seldom liked to talk to people now anyway and she used the time to think on what she had said earlier.

It was funny how she had used her inability to lie as an excuse, when that itself had been a lie. Lily wondered not for the first time why her people had become an exception to the rule.

As dinner ended, a wispy blond girl with a scar running down her entire face appeared and declared that a room had been prepared for Lily. With a goodnight to everyone and a lie of how she needed to lie down because her journey had worn her out, Lily followed the girl up the staircase she has been standing in front of earlier and down a hall to a bedroom as bland and forgettable as the rest of the church.

"Let's get you unpacked," said the girl as she moved toward one of the suitcases that someone had brought upstairs.

"No!" exclaimed Lily. Then she remembered herself and remarked less angrily, "No, I would prefer to unpack by myself. I have some precious family heirlooms that are bewitched and if they were touched by someone not of the family they could cause serious harm." The lie rang completely false in her ears and the girl still looked suspicious but she complied.

"Well then, let's get you ready for bed." Again Lily refused making up an excuse of how in America women get dressed by themselves. Finally the girl left and Lily was alone.

She reached for her first bag and tucked it under the bed. She wasn't in need of her laptop or any other electronics, equipped by the queen to run without electricity, at the moment.

The second bag she grabbed contained her dresses, shoes, and other garments that were acceptable for the fashions of this time. She hung everything in her wardrobe and shoved the shoes at the bottom.

Next she grabbed the beaten blue travel bag. Leaning close to its rough fabric she whispered the words she had set in place herself and the bag transformed into her old backpack, complete with duck-taped straps and hand-made beaded key chains her little sister had made in preschool for her. She felt a pang of loss; so much was now gone because of one stupid plan. Swallowing tears, Lily pulled the zipper. She would have to wear all black tonight to test how crowded her walk would now become from this part of town.

Pulling out a pair of black leggings, a skin-tight black tank-top that ended mid-thigh, and her well-worn black high-tops, Lily proceeded to change clothes. Other than the fact that having a lady help her take off her clothes just seemed wrong, that girl couldn't help her undress or else she would have seen the very 21st century bra and panties Lily wore underneath unlike the ladies of this time period. Finished swapping outfits, Lily found a hair band (God bless modern hair accessories!) and tied her hair into a high ponytail. Last, she found her make-up bag. Never being a big make-up person she still put on a fine layer of black eyeliner and mascara, a luxury that couldn't be worn in the daytime. She zipped the pack up, whispered to it, and watched it transform into what seemed to be a now empty travel bag.

Her fourth bag sat alone on the bed. She repeated her whispers and pulled out her weapons belt. One dagger, four throwing knives, a small sack of sleeping powder, a loaded hand-gun, and a small pen laser were all attacked to it and it fell into place on her hips as she snapped the buckle in. Lily retransformed this bag and shoved the two now 19th century "empty" bags under her bed.

Opening her window she gave one last glance to make sure her door was closed and then leapt out onto the rooftop only to drop to the ground and begin walking moments later.


	3. The Cave

Chapter 3

The route to The Cave was different from her new residence but strangely it still felt the same. The passing drunk still eyed her and her futuristic look as if she were a trick of the eyes brought on by too much drink. Each one that drifted to close still got a handful of sleeping powder blown in their face, courtesy of Lily and her belt. The sidewalks still smelled like pee and sweat and the night still put her every nerve on high alert. Lily let her mind drift as she came across the familiar streets and followed the usual path.

On the last road before her second home a man stumbled towards her. "Why sssir, wouldyou posssibllly…waita se-cond," his eyes drew together towards her figure. Though her breasts were practically nonexistent she did have particularly defined hips, something that usually caused the late-nighters to realize she was a woman. He smiled sloppily and a little drool leaked out of the side, then he marched towards her one arm extended. She reached in her pack to retrieve the sleeping powder and came up short. Shit, she was out. He wrapped the arm around her and began groping her ass. She sighed, and pulled out the dagger with the arm that wasn't trapped. Then, careful not to dig too deeply (this guy was only drunk after all), she dragged it down the length of arm around her. He winced and pulled away but not before the blood had trickled onto the side of her shirt and leggings.

"Never grab a lady," she scolded him, and then continued walking.

The Cave was an abandoned warehouse. What it used to produce no one remembered, but the queen had bought it specifically for the fairies like Lily and it was home to all of them.

Trash gathered along the curbs and the fading two-story brick building loomed up from its crumbling neighbors. Opening the metal door, Lily entered the candle lit entrance, a room completely bare except for the door directly across from the front door. Lily crossed the room and knocked. A panel slid open above her eye level but directly even with the top of her head.

"What year was Apple shut down?" A male voice asked from somewhere behind the door.

"2022, after they created iBrain and nearly turned everyone on the planet into mindless zombies," Lily answered. "And really Steve? I come here every day."

Steve opened the door and smiled, "And you complain every day, that doesn't change policy."

Lily smiled too and swept past him into the light-bulb lit real entrance with sky blue painted walls, hard wood floors, and two separate bars stretching down the left and right walls. She snuck down to the end of the left bar where on the last stool sat a man and she stood behind him.

The man had dark brown/reddish hair the color of chocolate and strawberry syrup mixed together when fully melted, cut short because it had a tendency to grow straight up. His skin tone had an olive-ish hue to it and yet, Lily knew, he had no ancestors from Italy or Spain or any of the common places where people tended to have that colored skin. Lily also knew without having to look that his eyes were a mix between green and hazel and that his mouth had a tendency to quirk up at the corners when someone he liked was talking.

"It's not going to scare me," he said, twisting his beer in his hands. Then he turned, and sighed. "Lil, why is it you can't walk here just one night without getting blood on yourself?"

Lily's mouth grins without her telling it to and she can't help the blush that lights up her ears. "Occupational hazard."

"One of these days you're going to get hurt, and it would never happen if you would just let me walk with you." He nags, simultaneously resting his hands loosely on her hips and kissing her in greeting.

Face flaming, she sighs. "Ok Rob, I'll stop cutting people."

"Aanndd…"

"And nothing, I'm a big girl, I can walk here by myself."

Rob sighs, defeated for now. "Alright, well, go get the clothes Rose stashed for you and meet me in The Sway, okay? I'll get us a table."

Then he stands. He looks down at her for a couple seconds, not moving from the cramped position of the two of them standing between two barstools, finally he smiles and lowers his head to kiss her again. His hand moves to cup her chin as if she needs a nudge to kiss him back, but she has already pushed herself onto her tiptoes and wound her hands around his neck and into the soft barely long enough hair at the back of his head.

Kissing was never so sweet. Lily's lips tingle as if every ounce of blood in her is rushing to them at that very moment. Their lips are barely touching but when he pulls back she feels disoriented, as if she is still living it. Then, after giving one of her hands a squeeze, he melts into the crowd that never disappears from The Cave.

Lily's still standing smiling softly to herself when she realizes she's still covered in blood and staring moony-eyed into the distance like some kind of over-dramatized girl from a romance movie. She slowly gets her shit together and stalks into the crowd.

Rob always drank at The Clash, the bar she had found him at. Like every other bar in The Cave, on its other side is a dance floor and restaurant all following the theme of its name. Though the music styles differed, magic was everywhere keeping the loud tones isolated to their specified areas. The Clash contained music from bands that could be described anywhere from rock to heavy metal and its dive of a restaurant served what could only be called bar food. On the opposite side of the hallway was The Trance. Known for its club music and colorful drinks, Lily had only been inside once and then hastily left.

Through the crowd and down the hallway a little farther was The Jump, The Strum, The Chill, and of course The Sway. Lily past all of them until she reached the far wall and the elevator in it. There was a small crowd standing and waiting to go up and Lily recognized the faces of her fellow once mortals.

There was Sam who had tried to expose the existence of fairies to the world in 2002. A history professor at some community college in Minnesota, he had been born with the sight (and a big mouth). Now his 40-year-old self was stuck showing the newbies around 19th century London.

Then there was Sara who was an up-and-coming author in 2014 who had a slight obsession with writing about Shakespearian fairies. The queen didn't take to kindly to the stories portraying her harshly and now 27-year-old Sara was her personal record keeper.

Next to them was Lucy. She had barely graduated from middle school in 2005 before her midnight flirtations with who she thought was a junior in high school, but who was actually the queen's dog-walker and a fairy, ended her in the job of greeter to the fairy caves.

Kim had accidentally poisoned food meant for the queen's servants. Gary had peed in the lake that was the entrance way to the fairy caves. Grace had tried to have her company drain and fill that lake. These once-mortals-now-fairies like Lily and Rob and everyone else in The Cave all had these things in common: they were from the future, had somehow pissed off the fairy queen, were now forced to live in 19th century London as sort-of fairies, stopped aging at the time they had made their mistake, and were forced to continue making a version of that mistake over and over now as punishment until they finally did some act that would get them out of the cycle and back into the future.

The elevator dinged, opened, and everyone filed in.

Floor number two of The Cave was very different from floor number one. A hotel of sorts, it was filled with rooms for anyone unlucky enough to be out of the job.

Rose worked in the laundry room at the end of the first hallway. She had worked at a drycleaner owned by her parents and then passed down to her and was unlucky enough to be the one who washed the queen's clothes one day. To say the least, the clothes shrunk. Now she was responsible for washing the queen's, and anyone else's, clothes. Rose though, she had a bit of an attitude.

As lily was walking up she heard the all too familiar shouting.

"When I brought these to you they were blue!"

"And what? As far as I can see they're still blue!"

"They have a greenish hue! The queen requested only blue clothes on Sunday, and this isn't blue!"

Lily was close enough to see the pants in question and though they were a bit aqua, they weren't the worst Rose had ever done. The man spit out a few profanities and swept past Lily, aqua pants in tow.

"I swear to God Lily, one of these days I'm going to get back at these ungrateful sons of…" she trailed off seeing the distressed state of Lily's clothes. "Again?" she asked gesturing.

Lily shrugged. "Got anything good for me?"

Because Rose had a tendency to get…dissatisfied customers, she had begun to collect clothes deemed un-wearable.

But that didn't stop Lily from wearing them.

She followed Rose into her little shop and watched her dig around, knee-deep in stacks of clothes. She threw a leather skirt, mid-thigh length over her shoulder and continued digging. Lily caught it and inspected it. Originally black, it had come into contact with bleach and now looked like a backwards and splotchier Dalmatian. The next clothing item she missed and it hit her in the face. Originally a blue log-sleeved knitted sweater, it had begun to unravel from the bottom up and it now ended about mid-waist and trailed long strings that ended where the skirt would end.

Rose was now in from of her. "The skirt's from Avry and the sweater used to be Marcy's."

Lily thanked her and changed out of her blood-stained clothes and into the funky and almost gag-worthy outfit. Then she handed Rose her ruined outfit to wash.

"What happened to my clothes from last week?" She asked.

"Haven't gotten to it yet, girlie. All these people do is nag about how I do such a terrible job, and then the queen declares Sunday is blue day and suddenly everyone's begging me to wash their stuff! Unbelievable!" She was still grumbling when Lily said her goodbyes and went back downstairs.

Like Rose's outfits usually did, her new clothes had lots of people looking at her as if they had just seen a beautiful sculpture. And then witnessed a dog peeing on it.

When Lily made it to The Sway Rob's eyes didn't pop. He was used to the crazy attire she was always wearing. He had a seat already pulled out for her and she took it, grateful for the chance to finally sit.

"The waiter already came by and I ordered for you, I hope you don't mind."

"The usual?"

"Yep."

"Perfect," she nodded and let The Sway's alternative music bring her back memories from better days.

She was so focused in her own thoughts that she didn't realize Rob was speaking until half of what he said was lost to her. "…found something you might like."

She didn't have to guess. Rob had been a junior in college on a baseball scholarship trying to become an engineer. Except in one of his science classes, while fooling around, he had accidentally created a time machine. Lily didn't know all the details, because he refused to give them to her, but that's how it supposedly went. The queen showed up and destroyed the time machine saying that anyone could easily go back and discover that fairies are real after finding her talking to Shakespeare (a mortal she had had a thing for). Now Rob got paid by his fellow fairies to travel to the future and retrieve some much needed luxury items not made in this time period.

Rob reached under the table and came up with a shoe box.

"I was thinking about the ball this Thursday, you know, and I was in the lady's shoe department buying gym shoes for Delia and I saw these ones and they looked like something you might like. It's ok if you don't like them, I had just remembered that you don't have any really nice shoes…" during his speech he had reached up to scratch the back of his neck, a nervous habit Lily had picked up on.

She reached across the table to grab the box, set it on her lap, and lifted the lid. Her eyes widened and her lips parted in silent surprise.

"You know what? I don't know what I was thinking, I'm just a guy, obviously I have no taste in shoes. I'll give them away, or burn them, whatever you want, it's no big deal…" Robs rambling stomped when she lifted her gaze to his. Then she lifted a shoe.

"Like Cinderella? They're perfect!" They were clear flexible plastic, round-toed, and with a clear, hard plastic, 3-inch heel.

Rob blushed. "Really? You're sure? They're not the wrong color or anything?"

Lily laughed. "They aren't any color, and yes I'm sure."

Glancing down at the perfect shoes for her dress she felt happier than she had in a long time.


	4. Stalking Lily

Chapter 4

"When you start caring about someone other than yourself, Tessa, then you'll realize why I'm so angry."

His argument with Tessa kept replaying in his mind. Will stood staring at the floor in some unused hallway of the institute and watched it over and over again.

He had been hiding out in the library trying to get the wedding out of his head, a hard task now that there was a wedding guest living in the same area as him. He had started reading an hour ago and now his body had slowly shaped itself into his favorite armchair; one leg thrown over an armrest and the other perpendicular to the floor, his back wedged in the area where the back of the chair meets the arm and his head tilted and resting against the cushioned back. He was more comfortable than he had been in ages.

Then Tessa entered.

Her gray eyes passed over him, focused on the bookshelves behind him, and she began marching in that direction.

Should he speak to her?

He had been studiously avoiding her since she had declared her engagement, but she wasn't married yet. He still had a few weeks before the scheduled wedding day when she would officially become Jem's, the day when he would have to disappear from the picture or forever glance at the new intimacy between them that comes when two people are married. Shouldn't he be making the most of his time with her even if it is only as a friend?

He opened his mouth to speak, saying what he wasn't sure, but she spotted him before he could get the words out.

"Oh dear," Her hand rose to her mouth and she sank into the chair across from him. "Are you still mad at me Will?"

It was questions like that that seemed to bring the anger back. Of course he was still angry! They had declared the wedding only a month ago and now the wedding was so close. If she had really cared about him why did she want to get married so fast? The excuse was Jem's disease but there was more to it, Will could tell. He wanted her to hurt, but that would only make his pain worse.

"No Tess, I'm not angry anymore." The words burned on the way out.

She sniffed like she was about to cry. "I just, I wouldn't know what to do if you hated me Will."

Will resisted the urge to sigh. Now he was making her cry, perfect.

He got up and crossed the room to sit next to her. As soon as he was sitting, she looped her arms around his neck and buried her head in the crook between his chin and shoulder. He reached around and rubbed her back.

"I could never hate you Tess." Then he took the leap. "You are my everything."

She pulled back and he realized the mistake he had just committed. And then with sudden certainty, she kissed him and it was all worth it. Everything felt right, he could be Will again, they could find a way to make-

She stopped. Her eyes were accusatory.

"Will, you can't kiss me. I…I'm engaged to Jem."

His eyes were pure fire.

He pushed her away and stood, crossing the room to the door, forgetting his open book in the armchair. It would be pointless to point out that SHE kissed HIM or that he was perfectly fine until she showed up.

But he had to say something.

And then it popped out.

"When you start caring about someone other than yourself, Tessa, then you'll realize why I'm so angry."

It wasn't his best, but it hurt her as if it was.

He stormed out after the first angry tear fell, after he was sure the comment had broke her.

And now he stood as it broke him.

He needed to do something, fight something, kill something.

He strode back toward his room in the tower and found his Shadowhunter gear. He changed into the all black shirt, pants, and stiff leather vest and shoved two seraph blades through the loops in his belt.

He would find demons tonight, even if he had to go into Hell itself.

He started towards the front doors and stopped in the hallway that led to the stairs. Three doors down was Tessa's friend, Lily's room. She had gone to bed early and would be fast asleep by now.

Will smirked. He should scare her somehow. Make her first night here go terribly wrong, just so that Tessa would have a problem to deal with. He would hurt her to hurt Tessa.

He drew a silence rune on his arm and snuck down the hall. The door was closed. Slowly he twisted the knob and opened it enough to see in. The room was empty.

He scanned; looking for her and his eyes drew to the open window. A figure in all black was standing on the ledge outside of it, it's back to him. Then the figure jumped and Will heard them hit the ground.

Without thinking he closed the door and followed.

Adrenaline was pumping through him like blood pounding too fast in his veins. He reached the end of the alley he had dropped into and looked left then right trying to see his prey.

There. The man in question, he knew it was a man because he was wearing trousers and an undershirt, had turned left and was strolling down the road. Who was this and why was he in Lily's room? And where was Lily for that matter?

He was so focused on the back of the man who was far in front of him that he almost tripped over a sleeping man. Will stopped and knelt to make sure the man wasn't dead, but no he was only sleeping. Sleeping half in the middle of the road, flat on his stomach with his head face-down. Not the usual position for a passed-out drunk.

Will dragged his legs out of the way of approaching horses and then lifted his head. He could just see the man in black turning right up ahead.

Not all out sprinting but still not at a stroll, Will made up the distance between himself and the stranger. And then he realized he was a complete idiot.

The stranger had stopped and Will had quickly ducked into a shadowy alley. A man was staggering towards the stranger, catcalling and reaching to grab him. The stranger's hand went to something at his side and then up to his mouth. When the man was close enough, the stranger opened his palm and blew something resembling chalk dust at him. With a choking gasp the man collapsed and then let out the loudest snore Will had ever witnessed, and he lived in the same institute as Henry.

The stranger brushed its hands together, removing the dust from them. Very feminine hands, Will realized. Then the stranger cocked a hip and grinned down at the sleeping man. A hip that was clearly a woman's and with lips on a face that was far too pretty to be a man's, and was clearly Lily's. He had been staring at her all dinner, he was surprised and a little embarrassed he hadn't noticed it was her earlier.

Lily swept her dark blond hair out of her face and then continued walking. Will followed, newly curious. What was she doing out so late? Why was she wearing men's clothes but, now that he noticed, skin-tight?

Skin tight clothes, out late at night, going deeper into the bad parts of town, was Lily a mistress?

Will followed her farther into the factory section of the city. When she stopped at the sight of an approaching man Will was already cloaked in the shadows. Something was different this time.

The man was inappropriately touching her and she seemed flustered. Did she run out of her sleeping powder? Will was halfway out of the shadows, moving unconsciously to defend her, when her blade scraped down the man's arm.

He sucked in a breath. He had never seen a non-shadowhunter woman use a weapon before. In books and all his experiences whether the woman was a mundane, vampire, warlock, or fairy they were too weak and frightened to hurt someone seriously themselves. A man was always needed to jump in and defend them. Lily twirled her dagger expertly and slid it back onto her belt, which Will could now see was covered in weapons. She was in no need of someone to defend her.

He wondered how much she knew, how well she could fight. It was like everything he had had on his mind that day was suddenly overshadowed by this new knowledge and the impulse to see her fight again.

She leaned towards the man and said something to him but Will's blood was pounding so hard in his ears he couldn't make out what.

Then she began walking again and like there was a rope attaching them, Will followed. He followed her straight to an abandoned brick building.

She entered and he waited for a couple of minutes until he was sure she would no longer be by the entrance and then moved to enter himself.

This went against every shadowhunter code. He didn't know this building's layout or what he was about to walk into, but he opened the door anyway.

Nothing and no one. He was alone in what looked to be a very bare parlor room. Where had Lily gone?

There was a door, thick and steel, and Will approached it warily. All he needed to do was blend in with whoever was on the other side. He reached for a knob and realized there wasn't one, he would have to knock and announce himself. Will pressed his ear against the door in the crease where it met the wall. As quiet as the flutter of cloth in a breeze and yet still there, Will could hear voices, and lots of them.

He would blend in just fine.

Reaching up he knocked on the door. A panel he hadn't noticed that was even with his eyes slid away. Will tried looking through it but got nothing but blackness.

"Who started WWIII?" came a voice from somewhere on the other side. Will stopped his searching through the panel. World War Three? What was that? Was it some kind of American thing? Maybe this was a place for only people who had moved from America to England.

Will racked his brain trying to figure out if there were ever any fairy wars that had been worldwide. Why, oh, why had he fallen asleep in Downworlder History class every day? Was it a country or a single person?

"America," Will said, defeated.

"Don't you mean South Canada?" the voice asked.

South Canada?

"Yes," said Will slowly.

"I'm sorry, that's the wrong answer. Come back tomorrow if you were taken before it happened. If not, I think you are in the wrong building." The panel slid closed before Will could do or say anything.

He pulled out a seraph blade and tried hacking at the doors, the walls, but nothing was affected. Face hot and eyebrows pulled together, Will skirted the building. There was no back door, windows, or any way of entering other than through the front.

He crossed the street to a bar, its lights out and everyone gone, probably abandoned. The roof was only a couple feet above his head and he had no problem hoisting himself onto it, paint chipping off the side of the building as he swung his legs up. The roof was strewn with bricks and rubble from its neighbors and even Will's shadowhunter training didn't keep him from tripping a couple of times.

He would wait her out.

It was an hour before dawn, the sky slowly going from black to a dark pink, when she emerged.

Her hair was wet, turning it from dark blond to medium brown. She was wearing…what was she wearing? At first glance Will had though she was bleeding everywhere, the blood going down the rest of her outfit in little trails. It was the shirt, ten times too big for her and falling apart at the seams. Then she had what looked to be a cow skin skirt wrapped too tight around her. It was too short and too tight, and after growing up his whole life and never seeing even a glimpse of a woman's ankles, Will couldn't stop staring at the bare and exposed skin of her legs. They were delicately thin but where Will had muscle hers seemed to be soft and slightly pudgy.

She held a paper box painted a stunning green to her chest, almost as if she were protecting it.

Any questions he might have had though were erased when a young man, maybe a few years older than him, came out behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She tilted her head to look back at him and smiled. She said something Will couldn't hear and the man nodded, smiling back at her. Then he kissed her.

Will was dumb-struck. It wasn't long but it was out in public and between two people who Will knew were not married, because then Lily would be living with him. It went against every lesson of social etiquette he had ever been taught.

What would Tessa do if he just walked up to her on the street in broad daylight and kissed her? Probably slap him and ramble about manners.

Despite everything he knew, he wanted to have the freedom to do that.

The man whispered something in her ear that made her turn around and smack his arm playfully and then they walked in separate directions.

Will jumped off the roof and started to trail Lily all the way back towards the institute.

He tried paying attention to the roads and to what she was doing, but his eyes kept catching her legs. Now he knew why woman were always so covered up, just the sight of one girl's calves and he was more distracted than he had ever been in years.

They were one building away from the institute when she broke into a sprint. Not prepared, he fell behind. He chased her around the institute once and then she was gone. He looked up but she wasn't on the roof.

He charged through the door and up the stairs, pushing Sophie out of his way halfway through and not pausing when she tumbled down them in his wake. He reached Lily's door in seconds and threw it open.

"Will!" She exclaimed.

She was standing next to her bed wearing a nightgown and her hair was tumbled in a sleepy mess.

Will didn't buy it.

He closed the door behind him. "So, where were you last night?"

She scrunched her eyes in confusion. "Right here, sleeping."

"You weren't, I don't know, out on the streets in tight black clothes and then kissing strangers this morning?"

Her green eyes showed flecks of steel. "I don't know what you're talking about. Did you drink too much last night Will? I've heard about your little problem. By the way, is that the only reason you came bursting into my room at four in the morning? Because you look like shit." She sniffed loudly. "Oh and wouldn't you know it, you smell like it too. Are you sure you aren't confusing me with yourself? Who was that stranger you were kissing? Did he declare his intentions?"

Will smiled but inside he was shocked. He knew she had a sharp tongue from when she had yelled at him during dinner, but to swear and openly insult him? Only Sophie had ever been unlady-like enough to insult a man to his face, and even she had never swore. Like with her fighting, the shock wore off and he was almost happy to realize this girl was tough. He no longer had a reason to make people hate him now that his "curse" was gone, but he missed the feeling a winning a battle of the wills. With Lily here, a new opponent was created. And she wasn't about to go down easy.

He crossed the room and, before she could move, pinched a strand of her hair. This close her skin smelled citrusy, like lemons, and her hair smelled like strawberries. Tessa always smelled of the bland soap Sophie bought at the store and of the musty smell of books. Will never smelled someone who didn't smell like what they touched on a daily basis.

"Your hair is still wet." He said, gaining the satisfaction of feeling the heat flood her face from the close proximity of his fingers. "What was in the box Lily?"

Her eyes widen and he can see her calculating, deciding how much to tell him based off of what he already knows. She comes to some conclusion and her mouth parts.

"Shoes," She remarks, her chin sticking out a little as she raises her head. "Is there a problem with that?"

He opens his mouth to ask her why she's lying to him, because who goes out into a scary neighborhood dressed weird in the middle of the night and kisses a stranger just to buy shoes, but a door closes somewhere down the hall.

He glares at Lily and then puts a finger to his mouth, telling her to stay quiet.

He slides Lily's door open just an inch. He wants to throw up.

Tessa is leaving Jem's room. She crosses the hall and goes into her own.

He smells lemons and feels Lily behind him.

Lily, Tessa's best friend. Just like Jem is his best friend.

A plan is forming, just beginning to take shape in his mind, but he can't start it now. He leaves her standing alone in her room and makes his way back towards his own.


End file.
